Second Chances
by swishndflickr
Summary: This is dedicated to one of my best friends for her birthday. Happy late birthday, pahlee!


Author's Note: This oneshot-turned-multi-chapter story is a belated birthday present for one of my best friends. I've never watched or read Ranma 1\2 before so if there's anyone acting out of character, you know why. Hope you guys enjoy! :)

Chapter One

The building looks different, Akane thought grabbing her suitcase out of the taxi. It was the first time she had set eyes on the gym in five years. She shrugged her shoulders and started towards the building.

Something had definitely changed. The interior had turned more exposed brick and whitewash walls than the traditional décor of her youth. It had a more industrial feel to it now. Dominating the entrance was a receptionist desk and a woman sat behind it. She was on the phone but she glanced up and smiled at Akane and held up the universal signal for just a moment when Akane approached the desk.

"Thank you, but Mr. Saotome is completely booked for the next three months. Please call back to schedule an appointment for next quarter. Thank you for calling Saotome Gym Inc. Have a nice day." The woman said, using her best customer service voice before hanging up the phone. "Sorry about that. What can I do for you today? I'm Ukyo, by the way."

"Uh, hi Ukyo. Is Soun Tendo around anywhere?" Akane asked. "Also, Saotome Gym Inc.? What happened to Tendo's Gym?"

"Mr. Saotome bought this gym a few years ago and remodeled it then. Mr. Tendo sold everything except for the family home. He's usually sparring with Mr. Saotome around this time. Did you have an appointment?"

"Appointment? No, he doesn't know I'm coming," Akane said, fighting back tears. Imagine her, having to make an appointment to see her own father. How did it turn out like this? "I-I was going to call him but I never found the time. There was so much to do with the… the funeral and making all of the arrangements. I haven't even told him about Shinnosuke. Oh god. Maybe this was all a mistake. I'll just go find a hotel or something. Thank you for your time." Akane turned to leave.

"Ma'am? Are you okay?" asked Ukyo, her brow furrowed in concern. "Here, I can page Mr. Tendo if you need me to? It's really not that big of a deal. How about you sit over there and I'll get you some water while we wait for him to get here," she offered kindly.

Akane shifted from foot to foot for a minute before deciding to sit and wait for the receptionist to page her father. She really just wanted to go to her childhood room and crawl in her bed and pretend the last few years never happened. However, that wouldn't be honoring Shinnosuke. She promised him that she'd reconnect with her father after he was gone. She promised him so much.

_I want you to be happy Akane. I want you to be happy more than I want my next breathe._

_I'm trying Shinnosuke. I'm trying. _She thought, burying her face in her hands.

"Akane? Is that you?" her father asked as he came down the hall. "What's wrong sweetheart? Is everything okay?"

"Dad?" Akane got up and ran to her father to hug him. "I'm so sorry we never came to visit. I wanted to, I just didn't know if you wanted us to and then Shinnosuke got sick and we never found the time and now… now it's too late."

"Hey, hey, hey, shhhhh sweetheart, it's not too late. It's never too late. We're here now. That's all that matters." Soun comforted her, patting her back.

"Not all of us." Akane cried harder onto her father's shoulder. "Shinnosuke… he..." She couldn't finish her statement before devolving into sobs and hugging her father harder.

"Um, before you got here she was saying something about a funeral." Ukyo told Soun as he tried to comfort his distraught daughter.

"A funeral? Akane, what happened? Where's Shinnosuke?"

Akane just sobbed harder.

"Come on, honey. Let's go to the house. I'll grab your bags later. Ukyo, can you cancel all of my appointments for today please." Soun led his daughter to their house behind the gym.

Akane woke up hours later with a headache and a scratchy throat. Her eyes felt puffy and achy. She didn't recognize her surroundings for a few moments since it had been so long. She almost started crying again when she saw all of the stuff from her childhood. Everything was the way it was when she left, down to clothes she had left carelessly on the floor. She picked up her old clothes and put them in the laundry basket before venturing out in search of her father.

She found him in the back yard, training with a bokken against an unseen enemy in the dying sunlight. Akane leaned against the porch railing. She couldn't remember the number of times she would come out here when she was growing up and just watch her dad practice. He would be at it for hours some days doing the most amazing mid air twists or unexpected flips, mostly to show off if he knew one of his girls were there for the show. The first time she held a bokken was in that exact spot. She was six and she was so excited to do something with her dad. She ended up with a bloody knee and cried for an hour until her dad took them all out for ice cream. She didn't end up picking a bokken up for another couple of years.

"Don't be shy. You know where the other one is. Grab it and let's spar," said Soun without breaking his concentration. He performed an impressive maneuver that ended with him kneeling on one knee. If there would have been an actual enemy, he would have knocked off his feet with Soun's bokken pressed against his throat.

"Pretty," Akane complimented her father. "But I haven't picked up a bokken in..."

"Five years?" Soun asked gently.

"Yeah." Akane responded after a moment. There was so much left unsaid between them she didn't even know where to start.

"So what's to stop you from picking one up now?"

"Nothing, I guess."

Akane grabbed the spare bokken and faced her father.

"How do you still have so much energy? You were at it for who knows how long before I came out here and you've still barely broken a sweat whereas I'm a hot mess," the girl said to her father between gasps of breath. She was holding her side with one hand and a bokken hung loosely in the other. Her face was flushed and sweat drenched her shirt, clinging in all of the right places. She was beautiful.

Ranma watched from a distance. His normal routine was to bring dinner over to the old man's place and eat with him but he had heard from Ukyo earlier that one of the Tendo sisters had returned in a whirlwind of drama. Something about cancer and a dead fiance. Man, that had to suck. Well, he was glad that Soun had one of his girls back. Ranma knew that Soun was lonely at times in that house all alone. Sometimes Ranma would come in with dinner and catch Soun with one of their pictures in his hands. He would laugh it off and say he didn't want to forget their faces but Ranma could tell there was something underneath the surface that he wasn't saying.

"Hey man, you going over there tonight?" asked Ryoga, breaking his reverie.

"What? Oh, I don't think so." Ranma shrugged. "I think I'll give Soun some time with his daughter. He hasn't seen them since before I met him. I think he's really happy she's here, despite the circumstances."

"Shampoo told me she threw a temper tantrum in the entrance when she found out her dad sold her gym and then collapsed."

"What? No," Ranma rolled his eyes. "That isn't what happened at all. Ukyo said she didn't know that her dad sold the gym yeah but she didn't start crying until she saw her dad. It turns out her fiance recently died. He had brain cancer and they didn't catch it until it was too late."

"Damn. That's messed up. Well you might to clarify that with Shampoo. She's telling everyone who'll listen that that's what happened." Ryoga said, clapping him on the shoulder. "Alright, man, well I'm going to head out then. Same time tomorrow?"

"Yeah, man, see you then." Ranma responded.

He turned away from the Tendo residence when the girl threw her bokken down in surrender before hugging her father. The look on Soun's face was almost priceless. It looked like something vital had been missing before that you never noticed until it was restored. Ranma almost felt guilty for witnessing something so private. He turned around and went back to the gym.

He found who he was looking for in the jacuzzi. After hours, Ranma lets the employees use the facilities as long as they clean up after themselves. Usually there were always a few to be found in the jacuzzi or the pool but it was strangely empty save for Shampoo.

"Shampoo, can I have word please?" Ranma asked sternly as he approached.

"Oh, hey Ranma. Want to join me?" Shampoo turned around. "It's a little lonely in here."

"No thank you. Why don't you come out of there so we can talk."

"Sure thing, Ranma." She winked at him and stood up.

"God damn it, Shampoo." Ranma averted his gaze and grabbed a towel from the nearby rack. "I've told you a million times to not go topless in the pool or jacuzzi. We have cameras now for god's sake. Here, take this so we can have a conversation."

"Come on, it's not that big of a deal," Shampoo said sullenly. "It's just boobs. What did you want to talk to me about anyways? Are you finally going to say yes to that dinner I'll make you? I'll be the dessert," she said as she approached him, fingering the top button on his shirt.

"Actually, it's about Soun's daughter. Ryoga said that you told him that she threw a temper tantrum about her dad selling me the gym. That's not what happened and I would appreciate it if you wouldn't go around saying that."

"Oh come on, really? Ukyo told me she freaked out over an appointment. What little brat freaks out over an appointment? And really it's been years since that old man sold you the gym and she's just now finding out about it? It all sounds pretty iffy to me."

"Well no one asked you in the first place so keep your opinion to yourself." Ranma said sharply. "I don't want to hear anyone else coming to me and telling me that you're talking about stuff you know nothing about when it comes to Soun Tendo and his daughters, understand?"

"Ranma, let's not fight." Shampoo pouted. "I don't like it when we argue."

"We don't have to argue if you keep your thoughts to yourself." With that, Ranma turned and left Shampoo shivering with cold outside of the jacuzzi.

"Oh," he turned around. "Don't forget to clean up after yourself when you leave, okay?" He reminded her.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Shampoo responded. She almost threw the towel at him. He's never taken the hint. She's been after him for over a year and he still has no idea. Ranma didn't know the strings she had to pull to get the jacuzzi to herself tonight. She thought for sure this time it would work. Well, on to the next plan to get Ranma alone.

"So you stayed with his grandfather? Afterwards?" Soun asked his daughter at the dinner table. He wondered where Ranma was. Usually he came by to eat but not tonight. He really wanted to introduce the child of his blood to the child of his heart. Ever since Genma showed up with his son and a business proposal, Soun's life had been just a little bit fuller.

"Yeah, I couldn't leave him alone. The sun rose and set with Shinnosuke for that old man," Akane responded, picking up a dish and putting a serving on her plate. "He was heartbroken. He barely spoke. If I wasn't there, I don't think he would have remembered to eat. All he did tend to the animals at the petting zoo they had. I'm sorry that I broke down on you like that this morning. I had to keep it together when Shinnosuke died for his grandfather's and when I saw you… It all came crashing down. I felt like a little girl again and all I wanted was a hug from you."

"There's no need to apologize, sweetheart." Soun grabbed Akane's hand and looked into her eyes. "I will always be there for you when you need me. No matter what. I get that we had our differences but you girls are the light of my life, even when you weren't here. I would do anything for you."

"I missed you so much, Dad." Akane's eyes filled with tears. "I was so scared. There was nothing I could do to help him get better. He just got worse and worse and then they put him on chemo and he got sicker. I had to be strong him and then when he died, I had to be strong for his grandfather. I had to watch them both wither away until there was nothing left."

"I know, baby. When your mother..." Soun cleared his throat. "When your mother died, I had to make the hardest choice I've ever had to make."

"I know you loved her very much but you never talk about what happened to her. I know she was hit by a drunk driver when she was pregnant with me."

"Yes. She was out grocery shopping. Eight months pregnant and out and about running errands. That was your mother." Soun scoffed affectionately. "But on her way home, a drunk driver ran the red light a couple blocks from the store and hit the passengers side. She wasn't conscious when the EMTs arrived at the scene. I got the call during a session I was leading at the gym. I almost left a room full of students on their own." Soun paused.

"Luckily, you know some parents like to stay and watch their kids practice. They told me to go and they would sort out the kids. I grabbed Kasumi and Nabiki and headed towards the hospital. When I got there, the doctors told me the prognosis didn't look good. The impact made your mother go into early labor but she wasn't awake to push. They made me choose, Akane. They could save you or your mother. If they were going to save you, they would have to do an emergency C-section and they said your mother wouldn't survive it. If I chose my wife, they said you would die in the birthing canal from lack of oxygen. It was an impossible choice and I still feel guilty about it sometimes. Not that I saved you. Never that. But the fact that the love of my life died by my choice to save my child. Your mother would have had my head if I had chose otherwise though. She loved you from the moment she found out she was expecting."

"Oh, Dad, I'm so sorry. I never knew." Akane squeezed her dad's hand. Her whole life and she never knew what her dad was going through. That would explain why he was still devoted to her after all of these years and why he still had the shrine dedicated to her. She remembers every year when he would pray at the altar on their anniversary.

"It's okay. I never wanted you to know." Soun said, wiping tears away. "I got to see her after, you know. She was sleeping. The doctors said there was a small chance she could wake up. They would give her some time to see if her condtion improved. The nurses came in and placed you on her chest. She didn't even twitch. I had to step out of the room because the woman I knew… The woman I knew would have jumped at the chance to hold you in her arms and it felt like I did that. That it was my fault she wasn't holding you, would never hold you. It almost destroyed me.

"We waited a week. I was barely keeping it together. She still hadn't woken up and you could tell she wasn't getting better. Your mother was always so full of warmth and life but she was getting so pale. There were dark circles under her eyes. She was loosing weight rapidly. Her body was just going through the motions. The doctors told me there was nothing else they could do for her. We decided it was time to take her off of life support. Some nurses watched you girls while I sat beside your mother as she took her last breathe. I promised her I would keep it together for her girls.

"I just wanted you to know that I've also witnessed the loss of someone I loved and I had to keep it together for someone else too. I know how hard it is." Soun rubbed the back of Akane's hand. "I know the kind of strength it takes to care for someone else when all you want to do is fall apart."

After that somber meal, Akane decided to go for a late night stroll around the block. She had a lot to think about. Earlier, when she was sparring with her father, it was exhilarating and almost fun. The physical activity quieted her racing thoughts. It almost felt wrong, that feeling. She didn't have a chance to dwell on it before she had to dodge a strike from her dad. She thought about grabbing the bokken and practicing again but it was too dark to do it in the backyard.

The gym though. The gym had been apart of her whole life. Akane took her first steps there in the gym. It's where she broke her wrist when she was eleven and it was where she had her first kiss too. She knew where her dad kept the spare key and she bet that even though he didn't own the gym anymore, she knew he had one.

She turned the lights on as she went through the rooms before finally stopping in the main room. One

wall of the room was dominated by mirrors and the other one was all sorts of equipment, stuff Akane had no idea what it was used for. The mats on the floor were clean and looked brand new. She grabbed a bokken off of the wall and went to the middle of the room, getting into an offensive position. She went through the motions as best as she could remember but it wasn't the same as it was earlier. Her mind wandered a bit and she almost fell over. Brushing herself off, she started from the beginning again.

"What are you doing here?" A sharp voice said from behind her. Akane screamed and swung the bokken with all the force she could muster. "What the hell?" the man asked as he gracefully dodged. The momentum of her strike made her stumble when it didn't connect.

"Who are you?" she asked, panting before bringing the bokken up in a defensive position.

"The owner of this gym and everything in it, including that bokken you have there." The man motioned to the wooden sword she had between them. "Are you the Tendo girl. Soun's daughter?" he asked.

"Akane. Not the Tendo girl." Akane raised her chin. She never liked to be referred to anything but her name. She got enough of that growing up. It was usually something along the lines of Kasumi or Nabiki's little sister. The teachers called her the youngest Tendo. It was a shadow she had to run far to get away from.

"Right. Well, Akane, you know this is trespassing right? I have every right to call the cops right now, if I wanted to." The man said. "Drop the bokken."

"Wow, really? Call the cops?" Akane scowled, lowering the wodden sword. "Isn't that a little overkill? You could just ask me to leave. I was just trying to… you know what, nevermind. Here's your bokken." She tossed the bokken at him, hoping he wouldn't be able to catch it. No such luck. He caught it easily, the bastard. "Have a good night," she said before she turned and marched out. She could feel his eyes burning into her back as she left but she kept her head high and shoulders back and resisted the urge to glare at him.

_Trespassing! _Akane was still fuming when she made it back to her room. She grabbed some fresh clothes before heading to the shower. _I can't believe he threatened to call the police on me! __What a jerk!_

It wasn't until she was in bed, almost asleep, when she realized she didn't get the man's name.


End file.
